RP Guide
Basic Roleplay Guidelines: No Power-Gaming. Also known as "god-moding" and "twinking" in some places, this refers to players who roleplay in such as way as to force actions and reactions of others in their poses, says, descriptions and other in-character communication. "John punches Eric in the face, knocking him out!" is an example of power gaming. Players should pose and say in such a way as to give the other person the option of responding. Power gaming is frowned upon no matter how well you roleplay, and constitutes a violation of consent (see NEWS CONSENT) - the other person has not given you their consent to tell them how their characters will react. Not all seemingly "forced" actions are power-gaming; some players will have worked out the results of an action or scenario before hand. A good rule of thumb in determining power gaming is if there is out-of-character complaining or resistance following the forced action. No Invincibility. This is almost the opposite of power gaming: The player roleplays in such a way as to see to it that their character cannot be hurt, trapped, tricked, hit or defeated in any way. It's okay to be defeated, hit, knocked out or put in danger; defeat doesn't make your character less cool or important. If your character can never be harmed, people are going to become bored with it very quickly, and won't want to roleplay with you. Defeat can be just as important as victory, sometimes more so, as it gives you a chance to flex your mental muscles, and see your character evolve. The character that cannot be touched by anyone is the character that has little reason to be roleplayed. No Meta-Gaming. Out-of-character information should never be used while you are in-character, especially in matters concerning the fourth wall. Players, real-life information and the audience should not be referenced in poses, says, emits and other in-character situations. "Dude shoots at Guy. If only Guy's player wasn't such a jerk, Dude would be enjoying this more." is an example of a breech of IC/OOC. It's annoying and destroys the mood of the scene. Equally important is to keep a distance between your character and you; -you- aren't being attacked, insulted, flirted, etc., with; your character is. Don't let your OOC feelings cloud your IC actions, especially towards the characters of other players (See Personal Conduct). Don't use OOC information to your IC advantage; you may know that your character is walking into a trap set up by their best friend, but your character doesn't. Only use information your character has gathered during roleplay to form the basis of your character's actions and attitude towards others. Don't cheat with alts. While the rules concerning alternate character interaction vary from place to place, it's considered bad roleplaying to use alternate characters as a means of gaining advantages for your characters, or getting access to IC information you would not normally have otherwise. For the purposes of plausibility and freedom in roleplay, we forbid only alt interactions which cause an unfair gain of any kind to the alts inquestion, or alt interactions which reduce the amount of roleplay available to others. If you have questions about whether or not an alt interaction scenario violates either of these principles, contact an administrator. Warn players when the actions of their characters may create a situation in which a Loss of Consent is involved See: Consent Use your best spelling and grammar. Because this is a text-based game, typing skills DO count! Try to use good spelling and grammar, avoid using all caps when talking (this represents shouting), and try not to use excessive punctuation!!!1!!1!!. IM short hand is also not appreciated; most roleplayers will not take you seriously if you walk into a room and say something like "ne1 want 2 r0l3pl@y?!?!". We're all writing a collective story; we want what we're reading to be legible, clear and entertaining. Don't be worried if you don't have perfect grammar or spelling, or if English isn't your first language and you sometimes don't get it right, as long as we can follow along, you'll be fine. Do your best to be clear, which is all anyone can ask. Maintain the 4th Wall. See: Theme, 4th Wall Category:News Files